When Nuno Espírito Santo took charge of Nottingham Forest in December last year, the Reds were in 17th place in the Premier League. After Saturday’s 3-0 victory over West Ham United, Nuno’s side are in the unthinkably lofty heights of 3rd place with a third straight victory in England’s top flight.
It is the first time Forest have won three consecutive matches in the Premier League since 1999, making it their best sequence in a quarter of a century. However, the Portuguese boss insists the credit must go to the players, as his team occupies a surprising position in the Champions League places.
Goals from Chris Wood, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Temitayo Aina meant Forest followed up recent wins over Leicester City and Crystal Palace with another three points at the City Ground. Speaking to Gary Lineker on Match of the Day on Saturday evening, Nuno refused to take much credit for his transformation of the team.
“It’s not me, when you play football it’s about the players,” he said. “They’ve been working very hard, you see the games and you see the stats: the way we help each other; the desire to win the ball back in the right places. It’s working out okay. The table doesn’t mean anything now. It’s about the next [game] and the next one is always more difficult.
“It was a very good day for all of us. Especially for the fans, they have been waiting so much time for these moments. We are delighted to give them this joy at the end, after what I think was a very good game.
“The game starts from [defence],” continued the former Porto boss. “When you change your approach and think the most important part of the game is the offensive one, maybe you get too unbalanced. So we start always with the idea of a clean sheet, always with the idea of being solid, compact, helping each other. And then try to create a platform and the right environment for our talented players.
“A connectivity between the team and fans? Yeah, definitely. They have been waiting so long for this moment, we are very thankful that we can enjoy it together.”
By @SeanGillen9
